taoCMS™ Demo Site: Latest News

Latest News

Farmers seeing great yields as harvest begins

Posted 8/28/13 (Wed)

By Olivia SundeenFarmer Intern

Upon being asked how harvest is going, Steve Wentz, manager of the Horizon Resources elevators in Watford City states “We’re busy. They are busy. Everyone is busy.”
Local farmers have been hoping and praying for heat, and that is exactly what they got. The last few weeks have provided ample heat that has begun to soak up the moisture and prepare the fields for harvest.
“I love how we got heat, now that we wrote about needing it in the last harvest article,” stated Mike Jenks, agronomist at Taylor Ag. “Currently, farmers are combining what they can, but fields still look pretty green.”
Most agree it is a slow process of combining what they can, when they can.
“It’s going good so far,” stated Howdy Lawlar. “There is a good quality of protein and decent yield that averages between 30 and 40 bushels per acre.”
But as Jenks mentioned, many farmers are still running into green wheat.
“The early stuff is ready,” stated Lawlar. “But you just never know. If we get rain, we will be shut down for awhile.”
Beau Wisness has also had to deal with green wheat, so much so, that he just began harvesting this week.
“Luckily, the heat has brought the moisture down,” stated Wisness. “So far everything looks really good. But other than that I don’t know much.”
According to Wentz, spring wheat is just getting going. But so far the durum is weighing in at 61 to 64 pounds per bushel.
“That is great,” stated Wentz. “For farmers it’s more or less about getting going. We are already short of room.”
Wentz noted that farmers are just beginning spring wheat harvest. And like with Lawlar and Wisness, he believes that more heat is needed to keep harvest running successfully.
“It’s all about getting ’er done, while the weather is good,” stated Wisness.